BASC falls to second place

After more than 18 years as being rated No. 1 in the SUNY system, Brockport Auxilary Service Corporation (BASC) recently announced it is now ranked No. 2 after the 2011 Student Opinion Survey (SOS).

BASC now falls behind SUNY Potsdam and ahead of the other 25 four-year SUNY colleges.

The SOS is a survey distributed throughout the SUNY system every three years. It not only measures dining services qualities, but also other things on campus like parking and transportation services and the Barnes and Noble book store.

The latest SOS survey, which was distributed in the spring, received results from 600 College at Bockport students.

“They are just general questions in the survey,” said Lou Spiro, interim director of BASC. “So it’s hard to tell exactly why [we dropped to No. 2]”

In a letter to all BASC employees announcing the change in rankings, Spiro said holding the No. 1 ranking for so many years still speaks highly of BASC and its employees.

The letter also stated the way the SOS is designed makes it difficult to precisely pinpoint areas that need improvement. Spiro said for that, they depend on the annual National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS).

NACUFS is a survey given every November that helps to target specific areas of improvement in food quality and the dining experience.

“[The NACUFS survey] provides in specific detail what we should work on,” Spiro said.

Feedback from the Fall 2011 NACUFS survey gave BASC specific areas that Brockport students and staff felt needed work.  The total number of students surveyed was 1,850.

One of the major results from this survey involved student and staff opinions about healthy choices. Areas with the biggest gap included variety in healthy menu choices and nutritional content.

Spiro said after survey results, they focus on those gap areas to see what can be done to improve BASC.

“[We] currently have plans in place to address areas of concern for our customers, as well as maintain those areas of strength,” said Spiro in the same letter to all BASC employees.